DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC.
A/N: A huge thanks goes to everyone who has reviewd/faved/alerted. Also a special thanks goes out to Jesa463!
Rory Williams was waking up, or at least that's what his half-conscious mind told him was happening.
In his experience, waking up without even the faintest memory of going to sleep in the first place was never a good thing. The last time he felt like this he had awoken to being a plastic centurion who the universe had forgotten. He remembered how defeated he felt when Amy looked him in the eye without even a drop of recognition or love for him in those huge eyes of hers. He had fallen in love with those eyes from the first time he met her as a child. He worked so hard to gain even the tiniest place within her heart though he had known that she would never truly be his. A long time ago her heart belonged to The Doctor : the mad man in a blue box who, once upon a time, promised her he would come back to her in five minutes.
In a way, Rory supposed he was grateful for The Doctor breaking his promise to Amy. It had given him a chance to grow on her. They had become friends, best friends. He had been overjoyed with that, ecstatic even, and when Mels pointed out to Amy that he had a huge crush on her, and when she kissed him ... he cut a vow into the depths of his heart: He vowed that he'd do anything for her.
It was still slightly weird to think about Mels being their daughter. It was almost painful to think about how their daughter grew up with the lifestyle that she did, even though both he and Amy knew perfectly well that their daughter was now alive and well, that she was River Song.
When Amy began traveling the stars with The Doctor he tagged along, and went with the crazy, death-defying plans she and The Doctor seemed so fond of. When it came to her looking at him like he was a ghost he hadn't minded. He still loved her, even then, and as he sat outside the Pandorica for two thousand years, as he pulled the box through hell and back to protect the woman within, he remembered his vow to her. Then the universe had been rebooted and everything had been perfectly normal for a while. At least as normal as a life with The Doctor could get anyway. Then Demons Run happened ... he held his little girl, and he felt so happy. It had possibly been the happiest he felt in his entire life, and it had been wiped out in the blink of an eye.
After that he and Amy's relationship had been rocky. All leading to that kiss back in the Asylum of the Daleks ... the kiss that marked the end of them.
Because Amy had been right. Love wasn't the problem they had. It was the scars of the past that would always haunt them. The scars left from traveling with The Doctor.
Amy couldn't have children, and no matter how many times he said that he was fine with that she didn't believe it. Every time they saw a child her facade would slip and he would see just how devastated she was that she couldn't give him one. He told her that they had River, and that was more than enough, but he knows that doesn't stop the guilt surging up within her.
When he kissed her back in the face of death, he found himself remembering his vow. He'd do anything for her. He was leaving her, for her. He couldn't stand by and watch her feeling guilty about a thing neither of them could change. She deserved to be happy, and she wasn't going to get happiness when he was around. She needed a fresh start, and perhaps he did too.
This was all The Doctor's fault. All of it was!
And yet Rory had found that the only person he could truly turn to was the person standing at the root of his problems.
That's right he remembered now! He crept into the TARDIS, unseen. To ask him why he had to fall in Amy's garden all those years ago. To ask him why he had come back. He wanted to know how The Doctor felt about destroying his life. Then the floor dropped from beneath his feet, and he had fallen, further and further, until his world turned a startling shade of black.
Rory opened his eyes.
A flash of green peeking out from a sea of dark brown hair. The Doctor.
This was Rory's chance!
Ignoring the stabbing pain in the side of his head, and the way the world around him was was throbbing in and out of existence, he shifted himself into a sitting position.
" Rory, you're awake!" The Doctor exclaimed, wrapping his arms around him in a bear-sized hug, " Are you ok? You hit your head good and proper." His calm, caring voice washed over Rory like burning oil," Mr. Pond?" The Doctor squeaked worriedly as he waited for a reply.
That was the last straw for Rory. How could The Doctor sound so sincere when his world had been torn apart? Rory had nothing left. Didn't The Doctor understand that? Amy had been his everything, and now he had been forced to leave her because of The Doctor's careless actions.
Rory remembered telling him once about what his actions did to people. He told him how The Doctor made people make rash decisions. That was a long time ago though. It felt like a lifetime ago, and yet The Doctor hadn't changed one bit since that conversation. The Doctor was still ruining his life, even now.
" Please." He mumbled under his breath groggily, " Don't call me that."
" Call you what, Pond? Hmm." The Doctor asked, cupping his cheek ever so slightly.
Rory lashed out at The Doctor, but because of his weakened form, the effect his fist had on the alien was perhaps equivalent to a butterfly gracing his chin. It was enough to cause The Doctor to back off though, and it seemed to be enough to shut him up too.
Rory swallowed down hard as The Doctor stared at him from the very corner of the TARDIS medical bay. He resembled a puppy that had been kicked to the curb with his downcast expression, and watery eyes.
Rory closed his eyes momentarily. Taking the chance to find some peace in the darkness. He shouldn't have done that. Violence wasn't going to help anything, and it wasn't as if The Doctor had physically taken him and Amy on board the TARDIS without consent. It was a lifestyle that both he and Amy had grown to love. The Doctor had only been too happy to show them the stars. Rory knew what he'd choose if given a choice between traveling alone, and being with friends. He couldn't pin the blame on him entirely. Never the less, he still couldn't help but resent the man.
Squinting his eyes back open he almost jumped as The Doctor's face loomed over his. Frown lines were burrowed into The Doctors brow, and his jaw was clenched. He wasn't angry, and he didn't seem upset anymore, just confused, " Rory, " He shook his head, the edge of his mop tickling Rory's beaked nose, " Oh, Rory. Are you going to tell me what's wrong? "
Rory almost choked as the strong, overpowering scent that belonged to The Doctor poured into his nostrils, suffocating him, " I can't." Rory stated. He didn't want to make a fuss out of this trivial internal feud he had against The Doctor. It was nothing. It would go away, given time.
" Come on, Rory. I like to think we're friends. Friends tell each other things, right? " The Doctor looked at him hopefully, " Please, tell me. Perhaps I can help you."
Rory laughed slightly, shook his head, and moved as to avoid The Doctor's all knowing ancient eyes. Were they friends? Could they really have such a straight-forward label pinned to them? Rory didn't know what to think anymore. Yes, The Doctor was a good man, and had quite possibly the biggest heart he's ever come across ... or hearts should he say. They had been through so much together, and yes at one point Rory and The Doctor may have been friends, but things had changed now, and Rory couldn't help the hatred that coiled in the back of his mind whenever he looked at the man.
The Doctor stood up to his full height, and exhaled deeply, " Perhaps you hit your head harder than I first thought." The Doctor pondered out loud to himself.
Rory raised an eyebrow, " How did I hit my head in the first place? " He inquired.
" It may have had something to do with a big red button that I really shouldn't have touched." The Doctor looked at the ground sheepishly.
" Your driving skills were always atrocious." Rory tried to keep the bitterness he felt towards The Doctor at bay, unsuccessfully.
" Well I would have been more careful if I knew you were on board, wouldn't have I?" The Doctor's words sounded almost as if he was accusing him of something.
Rory huffed. He had enough of this. Why had he come to The Doctor anyway? It had been a terrible idea. Scrambling from off the small medical bay cot he just about managed to stand on his own two feet.
Ignoring his own swaying body, and the gut feeling that he was going to collapse at any given moment, he began to move. Anything to get away from here, or more specifically him.
" Rory .. I'm not sure it's wise to be walking around with that head of yours. "
Rory shoved The Doctor lightly, and pushed past him, ignoring his protests.
He got about as far as the first step leading to the console room when his legs finally caved in beneath him. He instantly felt a vice-like pressure crushing his hand. It took him a millisecond to realize that it was, in fact, The Doctor's hand gripping onto him: trying to stop him from falling. It was too late though he was already falling, and with him The Doctor fell too. They fell, and fell, tumbling and turning until they landed on the floor. Rory yelled out in pain as his already-battered body was crushed by the heavy weight of The Doctor landing on him.
The two men gazed at each other, both fighting for breath. The Doctor looked extremely guilty for causing him more pain. Rory looked back at him. Telling him that he was fine with his eyes. Three separate beating hearts pounded against each other in a fit of adrenaline. The Doctor didn't attempt to get off of Rory. He loosened his weight off of him ever so slightly but showed no sign of moving, or attempting to get off. Those deep forest-green eyes of his peered down at him. Rory's nose was literally brushing against The Doctor's chin. Their faces were so close together. Impossibly close. Their lips mere inches apart.
Please leave a review x
